Signs of Trouble
by Webberfish
Summary: It's been years since Jinx and Kid Flash met, became partners and overcame the stress of life as a crime fighting couple. Now their daughter is struggling to find her place and old friends resurface to make life difficult. Can Jinx connect with her daughter, bury the past where it belongs and bring Irey home?
1. Unrest At Home

Hey Everybody_! _This story was originally part of my From the First series but I was told it didn't really fit and could stand on it's own. So I'm removing it from that and putting it here on it's own.

I hope you all keep reading!**  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, but I've taken little liberties here in this chapter. Don't sue me for that either. **

* * *

"Mom, I don't like peanut butter and banana." Irey West complained, picking at top sandwich on her plate. The nine year old redhead was sitting at the West household's kitchen table, a binder of math homework open in front of her. The sums were only half completed. Her mother raised an eyebrow from her place at the sink.

"Since when?"

"I'm sick of them." Irey's freckled nose curled. Linda West rolled her eyes outright. If her daughter hadn't eaten two loaves of bread and jar of peanut butter after every soccer game four days a week, maybe that wouldn't be the case. "Can I have something else?"

"Alright, we'll leave those for your brother." Jai was the second twin, who was wearing the pads of his thumbs flat upstairs in his bedroom on his game system. He was exactly like his father and would eat anything placed in front of him, if she managed to drag him down the stairs. Linda opened the fridge, taking out a bowl of fruit salad and giving it to her daughter with a clean spoon. Irey looked down glumly. "How's the homework, kiddo?"

"Math is boring. I want to go run." Irey said, fumbling with her pencil and flashing her mother unimpressed blue eyes.

"Irey," Linda ran her fingers through her daughters long red hair, taking a seat at the table. Irey was extremely smart but often got bored with her classes. She spent a lot of time with her various sports activities but more then anything she wanted to run. That was the problem. "One day when you're older, I promise."

Irey picked at her food, looking as sad as Linda felt for her. She knew what it was like to be different, to have instincts and be forced to keep them secret. It was for the best of their family though, and for Irey herself.

The West's weren't exactly normal.

Irey put her pencil to her math book, her arm blurring into the shades of green from her sweater. In less then thirty seconds she slammed the pencil down, her homework complete. She shot her mother an exasperated look, but Linda only sighed.

"I can feel the Speed Force _now_. It calls to me mom. I want to learn to use it, and I want to help Dad." Irey's face twisted, nothing but girlish honesty and hope.

Wally West didn't have normal job. At the moment he was on deck in the Justice League's Watchtower floating in the atmosphere around Earth. He defended it's citizens from various catastrophes, alien invasions, natural disasters or other dimensional travelers. He was the Flash, one of earth's mightiest heroes, despite his easy going attitude.

It was hard to explain to his children, that while it was a great honour, it was also extremely dangerous. Irey was stuck in the hero worship stage, glorifying every battle, ignoring every cut and demanding to be included in the Flash family. Her mother had halted that plan from day one.

Iris "Irey" West had been born first, her brother Jai following six minutes later, but had been running every moment from that to this. She'd inherited her father's super speed, although it remained untapped and untrained. Nine was simply too young, Linda could vouch for being a child weapon. She wanted her daughter to have the most normal childhood she could while she was young. Irey had all her teen years and adulthood to fight crime or use her superpowers if that's what she wanted when she mature enough to know what it meant. Once these times were gone it was gone forever. Linda also wanted to keep her kids away from all those super crazies. It was hard enough having to deal with the anxiety knowing her husband was fighting evil people that wanted to destroy the world, she'd have a heart attack if her nine year old daughter was out there too.

Linda sighed, wishing just for a moment that her daughter was more like her brother. Jai had no real interest in the Justice League, or crime fighting. He only had a fraction of the speed that Irey had, with no ability to compare to Wally at all, and instead lived his life like a normal nine-year old boy. He loved sports, baseball his specialty, and spent his downtime playing video games. He was a happy uncomplicated kid, except for having to deal with his family who were all obviously strong meta-humans.

"Let's not talk about being a sidekick, okay? You know how I feel about it." Linda said not unkindly.

One day Irey would learn there was more to superpowers then playing hero, but if Linda could help it, she'd be well into her twenties before she found out.

* * *

Irey was frustrated, and it it showed on her face. She didn't get why her mother had to always doubt her, always keep her life in slow motion. Her mother didn't _get_ it. She was made to go fast, it was inside her, and pretending to be like everybody else in their boring civvie world was killing her.

Sitting in class and having to pretend she couldn't finish all the work in the time it took most of the other students to take out their books. Having to play goalkeeper in soccer at her mother's insistence 'cause when she got excited she slipped into speed-mode and it would give her away. Having to walk, step by painful step, knowing that if she just _tried_ she could jog faster then most cars.

All her mom thought about was the stupid stuff.

_'You can't risk it Irey, if anyone knew you had super speed they could link it to your father. It would put him and __**us**__ in danger. Just be patient.'_

_'It's too much for someone your age. You have to trust me, I know what I'm talking about.'_

_'You just have to try to fit in, just for now. It's for your safety.'_

Safety. Safety. Safety.

The little girl was sick of it. Her mom was old and boring, all she did was hang around the house all day and go to her stupid meetings with her stupid friends. She always moved slowly, she didn't know what it was like to go fast. All she wanted to do was drag her down with her.

_'If only Dad was here.'_ Irey thought. _'He'd get it._'

Dad got everything. When Mom wasn't looking he sneak out with her. He would smile, and tie a dark mask around her eyes. They'd go running as fast and as far as she wanted. They'd talk about all kinds of things, and he'd sit with her when she got tired and tell funny stories. He was more then her dad, he was her friend too and she missed him when he was away working.

Irey had to do something. She just couldn't sit around and pretend anymore to be something she wasn't. She had a superpower, she had basic training and even if her Mom didn't believe in her, she was going to do it all by herself.

She was tired of being invisible. Irey wanted to _be_ somebody.


	2. Take It To The Streets

This chapter is chopped from my From the First series, but I'm just editing part three so please keep reading. :)

**Disclaimer: I don't own this franchise or these characters. Please, don't sue me.**

* * *

Irey could feel her adrenaline pumping like electricity through her body, and she couldn't help the whoop of giddy laughter. She pushed an outlay of force to her boots, bouncing off the concrete and slipping around the cars that were creeping along like snails. People couldn't see her, only a blur of color from her bright hair and boots. It made her feel confident, _strong_.

It was a simple plan really. Get her brother to cover for her out of the threat of hiding his lucky pair of cleats, sneak out of the house while her mother was occupied and nab just _one_ criminal. Then her mother wouldn't be able to say boo to her, or call her a baby or anything. She could even brag to Dad.

Maybe she should think of a superhero name. Irey couldn't stop the second round of giggling.

The brother bribing had happened without much flaw, the mother distracting had been another story. She had to rip the air vent above the furnace from the ceiling and stuff a hunk of smelly meat into it. Her mom had been scouring under every cupboard and behind every wall when Irey snuck out. She'd be busy for hours.

Keystone City never looked so exciting. The crowds of people rushing home after work, the slew of traffic, the sounds, smells and shadows. She caught sight of a few policeman collaring some low level perps downtown but didn't slow down, catching sight after sight of black and whites. Irey obviously needed to expand the search to find a fish of her own.

She remembered old war stories of her father, who bragged about his Kid Flash days and all the criminals he busted in the warehouse distract. Mind made up, Irey twisted a hard right and took off in the other direction. Within a few minutes she was in a clustered maze of steel warehouses and empty shipping lanes pumped and ready to go.

Irey was picturing thieves who stole shipments from containers, maybe a drug buy she could bust, there had to be _something_. Her father-

The flash of a metal warehouse door opening caught her attention, the form of a man against the bright lights of the interior, carrying a large box awkwardly. Eyes widening, and heart pounding Irey pushed off her feet and charged towards building 329.

"Who are you?" Irey asked as she skidded to a halt, not having the absolute control to stop her momentum dead. The man looked up from his work, a slow strange expression rising to his face.

The man in front of her was _old_, middle age at least. He was fiddling with the open compartment of the strange box he stood in front of, his hands outfitted in tight green gloves. All she could think of was that he looked sick, tall but extremely lanky, his muscles tight to his bones with a green and black costume. Irey could only see parts of his face, most of it was covered with a sleek black helmet, the lenses of the specialized goggles a bright green. What she could see was pitted and sunken like he needed a good meal and hadn't had one in a while.

"A speedster." He croaked, he had a deep voice.

Irey grinned. "You betcha, I'm the fastest girl alive." She zipped around a bit to show off, sliding straight up the table he was working on and resting her elbow against the steel. She did not notice the way his jaw tightened. "You didn't answer my question though. Who are you?"

"An admirer." he said kindly, putting his hand out for her to shake it. Irey couldn't help the flush. She had never been admired for her talent before. She took his hand. "I have a thing for speedsters you know, we go way back." He tightened his grip. There was a lot more strength then his sickly body would suggest, Irey felt sharp pain from the squeeze. She panicked, trying to whip into hyper-speed to escape but his grip was to sharp, too tight and held her firmly in place.

"Let go! You're hurting me!" the little girl cried, struggling. The man's face twisted into something intimidating, a malicious grin showing a set of white teeth. Irey felt her heart hammer. He was too strong.

"I wouldn't want you to run away. You cowards always do."

The man moved fast, his free hand rising to the dial on the side of his helmet. She saw the laser but couldn't get out of the way, it's burning heat caught her in the left shoulder. He let go the moment it hit her, and she fell back end over end on the hard concrete floor. Irey cried with pain, tears prickling at her eyes. All she could smell was burning flesh. The simple t-shirt she'd been wearing was smoking on that side, the skin underneath blistered and hurting.

The lenses of her left goggle had cracked in the fall and frustrated she threw them off, gasping as her wounded shoulder pulled. "What did you do that for?"

"You're just a little kid and you're stupid. Do you think anybody who wears a costume is a good-guy? Didn't your mommy tell you about the baddies in the world?"

_Mommy_ had warned her. Irey just hadn't wanted to listen.

"You're a villain!"

"My name is See-more. Yes, I am." See-more came closer, and Irey knew she had to move. She tried to fall into her super speed, but soon she fell out of it. The burning pain became excruciating against the wind. Up until now the worst injury she'd ever had was a broken finger in soccer when another girl trounced on her trying to score a goal. "Are you crying?"

"No!" She glared at him, tears in her eyes. "You better let me go, you big bully."

"Or what?"

"My dad will come and kick your ass."

"And who might that be, brat?"

"He's the Flash! And if he knows you're hurting me he'll-" See-more snapped foreword, grabbing her by her good arm and hoisting her into the air. He was infuriated, his green lenses glowing red.

"Who's your mother? What's her name?"

"...Linda."

"Answer my questions, or I'll make that look like a paper cut. Do you understand?" See-more dug his thumb into the open wound. Irey shivered, the tears sloshing down her cheeks with rivets of snot as she cried out in pain and fear.

"Y-you're hurting me," the little girl whimpered, fighting against his cruel grip. Irey was determined not to betray her family. No matter what he did she'd never tell him anything important-

"What color are your mother's eyes?"

He hit her backhanded, a smear of her own blood marking bright red on her freckled cheek.

"P-pink."

He said a single word, one that didn't make any sense to her but was too relieved to care as he dropped her back to the concrete. She curled in on herself, crying and begging for her mother inside her own head.

See-more paid her no attention. He said a single word she didn't understand.

"Jinx."

* * *

"What do you mean she's gone? Jai West you tell me what you know this instant-"

Jinx loomed over the bed of her son, his game controller in her hand. Her skin still stunk of the rotting pork roast she'd found stashed in the ventilation shaft, and it wasn't improving her mood. Her darling daughter was missing.

"She just took off mom. I swear!" Jai was fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt, avoiding looking at her.

"You're hiding something." Jinx leaned foreword, she saw Jai sink down into his shoulders.

"She _might_ have been wearing her boots, the ones dad gave her. She had a weird mask on, _maybe_."

Jinx's stomach twisted. She had known about the bright boots buried in the back of her daughters closet. She'd found them last year when combing for old toys and too-small clothes and tracked down Wally almost immediately after. He admitted to having them made for her, explaining the need of the Speed Force. He also promised, combing back her hair, he would always be with her when she used them. Wally said Irey had swore to the supervision when he presented her the box.

Nine clearly was old enough to lie.

Jinx swallowed her worry and calmed her voice as not to upset her son. All the scenarios of her daughter rained down from tainted mind. Irey was so fast on her feet but so ignorant and untrained. Now she was lost somewhere on the street of Keystone City.

Jai was just as sheltered as Irey had been, he didn't understand the danger of super powers. He had just let his sister charge head first into a lions den.

"...When I get back home we're going to have a serious talk. Get your things. You're going to visit Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris while I find her."

"Mom, I thought she-" He looked guilty, and she ran her fingers through his bright hair. This was her fault and now she'd have to make it right. First, she needed to find her child.

"I know. Get your coat."


	3. Rewinding Memory Lane

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans or it's characters but I do love them, so I'd treat them nice if I did. **

* * *

See-more put the finishing touches on the restraints of the girl. He had to improvise a little, she had been a bit of a surprise, but overall managed to hook her to a steel bar at the end of his machinist table. She sat on the concrete floor, her two arms hooked above her head with steel handcuffs. Her head was slumped deep into her neck, her limbs and hands boneless.

She was a small thing. Now that she wasn't moving or crying he could get a better look at her. Long red hair, braided in a thick plait over one shoulder, a skinny face with freckles. He had thrown aside her goggles while injecting her with anesthesia but had caught her bright blue eyes wild with fear as she faded into unconsciousness.

_'Linda._' He thought to himself, trying to find any hints of his Jinx in the face of this child. He couldn't find anything. Her coloring was all wrong, her bone structure all wrong, the way she spoke was wrong. _'Is that the rube name she picked? Linda. Or is this brat lying to me?'_

See-more sunk into himself, arms falling slack by his sides. _'Jinx. Jinx. Jinx.'_ She was something out of his dreams, the girl who had gotten away. The one who was stolen from him. It had been over 15 years since he last saw her. It wasn't a memory he'd ever forget.

* * *

_"Jinx, fancy seeing you here." See-more gave a half hearted wave, handcuffs clinking on his wrists. The Titan in question only frowned and moved up to steel table. She had a file-folder in her hands. He thought she looked strange, unlike herself. He didn't like it. He especially didn't like the yellow Titan communicator hanging on her belt. _

_"See-more." Jinx said, her voice wasn't quite as raspy as it had been. She sat in the empty chair on the opposite side of the table, eyeing him. Jinx opened the file and he saw immediately that it was his rap sheet. "You're in trouble this time, no more juvenile detention. You're headed to prison for real. A three year stretch." _

_"Yep." They'd been running into each other randomly over the past three years. He committed crimes, she either stopped or visited him in jail afterwards. She'd been trying to get him to stop. She knew he was still wrapped up into the Brotherhood of Evil, but it didn't matter to her. She thought he was worth saving. See-more wasn't a turn coat, he wasn't going to change. He liked being a villain, he just loved her too. She was his weakness and always had been. "Here to see me off, Jinx?" _

_"I'm here to say goodbye." Jinx said her eyes hard, but he could see the hurt in them. Three years ago he never would have been able to see that. When she was the HIVE leader she didn't show any feelings besides aggression or anger. "This is the last time, See-more." _

_"Huh?" See-more leaned in. He was eighteen. He tried to move past this but every time she said his name it was like his heart was trying to explode out of his chest. _

_"You beat a man within an inch of his life because he wouldn't give you vault combinations. Don't defend yourself, I don't care why." She cut him off when he opened his mouth. Madam Rouge had demanded the contents of a particular security deposit box, See-more didn't know why. The guard in question tried to be all brave and stop him. It hadn't been a hard choice. Between See-more's neck or the guards, See-more would put his own ahead every time. He didn't run to build sofa cushion fortresses anymore. He no longer played games for children."I can't give you the benefit of the doubt anymore." _

_"That's pretty rich." He couldn't help himself. He remembered all her old plans, her old catch phrases. He remembered the outline of her horns in bank robbery alarm red. Three years couldn't erase all that. "Coming from you." _

_"Go for the kill, See-more. I was a criminal. I did bad things, but I paid for them and grew up. What about you? You were a good guy, despite the robberies, but now what are you? Rouge's lackey? A killer? How far are you going to go?" _

_"Better her then __**you**__." Jinx sighed. When she opened her eyes, the pink iris's were hard as steel._

_"Fine. Hate me. I don't give a shit. But think about it, Rouge is bad news. She's always been bad news and she always will be. You're going to jail this time. Will she break you out?"_

_See-more shrugged. He doubted it. Rouge had gotten her flash drive. That didn't mean he planned on hanging around to find out if they would be any dashing rescues. He could manage on his own. A small part of him knows the only reason he gets arrested as often as he does is because he knows Jinx will come when she finds out. See-more needs those visits. _

_"This is it. I tried to pass it on, but you've made your choice." _

_Jinx stood then, pushing a strand of her hair out of her eyes. It's now that he notices her necklace. The dark purple gemstone she'd been wearing since her first days of the Academy is gone. He knows the story of that original necklace. It's the first thing she ever stole on her own and it had earned it's place as her trophy. She always took care to keep the strap unfrayed. There's a pendant on the ribbon now, it's extremely light purple and when he squints he can see a shadow inside the resin. It's a four leaf clover. _

_See-more wanted to throw up. She's suppose to be all about the bad luck. There's a part of him, a deep, agonizing part that knows it's Kid Flash that gave that to her. Just thinking about the speedster burns him like acid. His Jinx is truly gone. She's wearing good luck charms for Christ sake._

_See-more sat with his hands cuffed to his chair, a power inhibitor collar wrapped around his slim throat. They have him in a bright orange jumpsuit, although they hadn't removed the helmet. He lied to the guards and said he couldn't control his super powers without it. There's jail in his future and this time it's as an adult. Like a permanent record kind of deal. He's part of the Brotherhood of Evil, he hurts people. _

_Jinx stood then before even though she was technically shorter without her heels. Her Titan communicator is close at hand. See-more knew that when she left this room she could chat with the cops if she wanted. She could go back to whenever she called home and __**he'd**__ be there. There's paper articles about her because she saves people, not because she hurts anybody and stupid civvies call her a hero. A good guy. _

_When See-more looked at her now he couldn't see an ounce of desperation in her. It always use to hang around like an aura in her HIVE days, but now she seems nothing but content. _

_Their paths couldn't be more different. _

_"The next time I see you, I won't hold anything back." Jinx stopped, her hand pausing on the doorknob. Her back was still to him. "Don't die, See-more."_

_And then she's gone. Off to play hero, him to wear the guise of a villain. Their paths don't cross again and See-more falls deeper and deeper into misery. _

* * *

The warehouse door creaked only once before it exploded in shards of fractured metal and rust shards dragged him out of his day dreaming. See-more ducted behind his raised arms avoiding the barrage of shrapnel, looking at the slim silhouette shadowed against the moon light. He heard sounds of heels on concrete and all at once Jinx stepped into the light of his hideout.

The woman who stood before him was so far removed from his memory, he couldn't move.

"Jinx."

She's still very slim but she had a woman's body now, instead of the rail thin form of an underfed adolescent. There's curves where they'd once been nothing except harsh angles, the purple leotard costume with it's legless design highlighting the fifteen years of missing time. He had never seen so much skin, even with the long, ragged sleeves. As a kid she'd hated it's color and had been ashamed. Now it overwhelmed him. See-more knew her age was mid-thirties now, she's two years older then he is but she barely looks mid-twenties. It's like time has stopped.

_'She's grown out her hair.'_ See-more thought, unable to tear his eyes away from the long pink curtain and flirty bang. He could still remember the harsh horns and metal black bands. _'My girl.'_

"See-more." Jinx stopped. Her furious cat eyes surveyed his hide-out, focusing on the burn mark he'd made when he missed hitting her daughter with his laser eye. She met his eye and scowled. "You're the one who's taken my daughter?"

"She came to me." See-more said, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. He pointed to the kid, still tied and sleeping at her perch. "She's just bait for you. I don't care what happens to the kid."

Jinx's eyes followed his movement. He could hear her gasp the kid's name, though he didn't catch what it was. Every line of her body language changed. She went from a woman to a warrior in a split second. The emotion drained out of her face and he was left with ice.

His own heart turned to granite.

He had denied her choices for so long. She had only been a kid, susceptible to influences and a girl at that. Kid Flash had wooed her and spent the next few years brain washing her. They had lost touch, but he knew her, she would come to her senses eventually and come _home_.

All his hatred, his blame had been on the shoulders of that hero. It had been Kid Flash's fault.

Except that little brat belonged to her. A babe squeezed from her body and sired by that _fucking_ speedster. He couldn't deny it. It hadn't been a mistake, it hadn't been a con. She had left because she wanted to. She had willingly gone into the bed of that bastard and had his children. She had betrayed him. She had betrayed _everything_.

See-more felt himself shift, the anger, the lust for violence rising above his worship of her. All he could feel was hate, with as much passion and ire as the love he had once felt. It was like his chest was ripped apart by wild animals, he couldn't control the beat of his heart.

"You picked the wrong incentive." Jinx raised her hands. Her defense stance was perfect. All he could see was her arms wrapped around the body of that runner, her lips on his lips. "I'll destroy you, See-more."

"I'm counting on it." See-more stepped on the pressure button under his boot. All his new tech and tools popped from their hiding places around his hideout and bore down on her. Jinx didn't even look at the weapons, containment field generators and guns. She bore holes hot enough to poke through the layers of his skull with her eyes instead. "I've waited a long time for this."

"For what?" Jinx asked him.

See-more laughed. It even sounded demented to his own ears but how could she not know, not figure it out? He slammed his other boot down on the sister button, releasing a barrage of weaponry to her person. He saw everything, even if she was blind.

_'If she's not mine...'  
_

"Revenge."


	4. The Collasping Roof

**Disclaimer - I don't own the Teen Titans or any of the characters but I wish I did. I'd have a lot more episodes involving Flinx. **

**Happy Holidays! **

* * *

Jinx flipped harmlessly around the barrage of weaponry, releasing a quick wave of hex energy to dismantle an activated containment field but managing to still get blown back from the heat of the explosions. The remains of the surrounding wall that held the cargo door five minutes previously exploded in rubble and bullet holes. She stumbled on her boots but regained her footing quickly, her focus divided between See-more and his raving and the prone body of her young daughter.

_'Pay attention to the target.'_ Jinx scowled, kicking herself for being distracted but unable to stop her eyes from wandering. She noticed the blood blossoms on Irey's t-shirt. See-more still had the haunting of that laugh in his face, and though she hadn't thought of this man in almost a decade Jinx could feel ancient tides of unease and anger. She had tried her best to help him, she had tried.

"As flexible as I remember." See-more said, and though she couldn't see his eyes beneath the shield of his costume she could feel him looking. It made her skin scrawl. It was like she was standing naked. "Will you come a little closer, Jinx?"

Frowning, the sorceress charged. She back flipped, swiping at him with her glowing hands and crumbling the concrete beneath his feet. He seemed to know it was coming and avoided the pitfall, shooting lasers out of his helmet in rapid succession. Jinx ducked, twisted and bent out of the way continuing to send out her magic as she inched closer and closer to his person.

One of See-more's lasers caught her in the left elbow and sent Jinx spinning, her teeth gritted in frustration. She could smell burning flesh. She saw the reminiscent of magic burns curling up his boots. See-more didn't seem bothered by the superficial injuries. It was like he didn't feel pain.

This man wasn't the boy who had been her friend. Everything about him to the way he spoke, his lumbering body language was different. It was obvious to her the years hadn't been kind to him, but she didn't care. She didn't care about any of it. She had only ever wanted peace. "Just give me back my daughter. I don't care what you're doing here. Whatever all this crap is you're welcome to it. The police can deal with your grand master place."

"That kid has superspeed." See-more said finally, stretching out his thin shoulders. She could hear his joints popping. She watched him run his fingers over his collarbones, tapping them against his gloves. They stuck out like broken sticks. "The _Flash_, she said."

_'Irey. Why would you give up your father?'_

See-more saw the panic flash for a micro second in her expression and it set him off. It was the same as an admission. He moved too quickly, the back of his hand hitting her clear across the jaw while she was once again scoping out Irey. He grabbed her before she could recover and pushed her against the side of his electronic console, pinning her glowing hands by the wrists and repeatedly slamming them against the hard metal. All Jinx could think was that he was stronger then he looked.

She could have easily used her magic to explode the console, send the ceiling crashing down, break water pipes but Irey was now only ten feet away and vulnerable. Jinx couldn't risk it, she didn't want to hurt her.

She cried out in pain, the fragile bones in her wrists and fingers taking a pounding over and over. See-more was so close to her now he could smell the scent of her perfume. There was something bitter in it. See-more could feel the adrenaline and blood rush in his veins, his legs ached and he knew, feeling her curves and muscle against him how much he wanted her. He wanted her between his legs, he wanted her writhing. He just wanted her bleeding first.

"Who's his father, Jinx? Who have you fucked? Who?!"

Jinx's eyes glowed pink but there wasn't any power in it, just rage. She spat at him, the glob of saliva dripping down his bare chin. He quirked his lips into a twisted smirk. She was still tough as iron, he could still see those lost parts in her.

"My husband."

Roaring, See-more slammed her body into the structure behind her so hard the bones in her hands creaked. Jinx cried out again, metal piping ramming into the muscle of her lower back. The rivets dug deeper at the next attack, puncturing little holes all the way up her spine.

See-more screamed. "Why did you pick him? Why?! I loved you, I worshiped you. I followed you everywhere, every plan. Everything you ever asked me. I did for you. He comes running and you take off, _marry_ him."

He cocked back his fist and slammed it into the metal console, just gracing her ear. Jinx wiggled out of his grip. "See-more." Jinx said simply, recovering enough to grab him by both shoulders. Pink sparks sank from her fingertips and absorbed into his costume. See-more felt odd tingles like ice running through his veins, not painful but strange. It took him a minute to realize it was her magic inside his body. "He's a better man then you."

And then all hell broke loose.

* * *

The Flash sat in the control room of the Watchtower bored and fiddling with a Rubix cube. He was on duty for the next four hours but hated watching monitors. It was too stagnant, too still and he hated not being able to do anything about it. The Green Lantern would rack his body across a cheese grater if he got up though. Two months ago he got distracted and Rhode Island had been threatened by B-lister criminal. There had been a few million in property damage. Now a stash of puzzles games lounged in the bottom drawer of a near by cabinet for his pleasure.

His personal line beeped a lazy red and he accepted the call, transferring the image to one of the big monitors in front of him. The image of Metropolis downtown sector was swallowed by his son's face. Jai looked concerned when it popped up on the video screen, his red hair in disarray. The Flash could see the striped wallpaper behind his sons head and knew that Jai was with Barry and Iris in Central City.

"Hey kiddo, what's up?" he offered with a grin and a quick wave. "How's my favorite Kraken?"

"Have you heard from mom?" Jai cut him off, biting his lip.

Flash frowned. He'd been on the Watchtower for the better part of five weeks and it had been a few days since he last heard from his wife. The Justice League had been called to a crisis in Gotham, and she'd been busy with the kids. With the time difference and their competing schedules they always didn't get to talk as often as he wished. He hated it but it happened. "No. No calls today. What's wrong, Jai?"

"Irey ran off and Mom went to find her. I'm at uncle Barry's but I'm worried about Irey, Dad. She was acting funny." The Flash could read the plains of his kids face better then the sports pages. He could see the shake of his shoulders, the guilt in his bright eyes. There was more to this story then he was telling but at the same time, the speed monarch didn't care. Sometimes there was only time for bare facts.

"Irey ran off and nobody called me! Jai!" he threw the Rubix cube back onto the panel, his fingers flying on a separate keyboard. He quickly brought up the GPS signal in his wife's communicator. It was blinking in the warehouse district in Keystone City.

"Mom said she could handle it. Dad, can you go find them?" Jai begged instead, looking over his shoulder at the sound of a door behind him opening. "Mom said it'd be okay, but Irey's faster. Please, can you go?"

The GPS signal was fluttering around a greyed out building, changing the latitude and longitude as if she was dancing. The Flash smiled at his boy, burying his worry underneath the mask of his red suit. Jai looked back thankful, warm with love for his superhero father not seeing his father's unease.

"You got it bud. You hang tight at Uncle Barry's. I'll swing by and take you home when I find the girls."

Jinx did not dance. It was all he could think, already at the panel of the transporter that would bring him back to earth. Fighting could be classified as a certain kind of dancing though.

* * *

"Irey, you silly girl." Jinx cried, her relief exhausted her energy and all she could do was take in her daughters prone body into the safety of her strong arms. With a quick spark of magic the handcuffs crumbled into rust. Irey looked pale but unhurt with the exception of a blistering wound on her shoulder. "I'm going to take you home, kiddo."

She heard the click of a dial and instinctively crouched low over her daughter, throwing her left hand behind her. See-more caught her in the back with his laser, but her return hex knocked him back off his feet end over end. She heard the loud crash as he returned to his pile but was already moving. Jinx grunted, moving her daughter as fast but as gently as she could to lay over her shoulders in a fire hold. She wasn't near as strong as someone like Wally or Cyborg and struggled to her feet at the extra weight.

See-more was pulling himself out of the tangle of electronic components he'd been hoarding as Jinx ran by aiming to the open gaping holes in the main wall. If she could just get Irey outside the building she could focus on See-more completely.

"No! You're not getting away!" He yelled behind her.

"Go to hell!" she shot back, kicking her left food out in a sweeping arc, a pink hex flying off her boot in five strong pink waves. See-more dodged this barrage, throwing another one of his eye bombs. It exploded, throwing the mother and daughter clear out the warehouse door. Jinx felt Irey slipping away from her. Pink eyes widened in pain, her nine-year old daughter landing face up and smoking ten feet from her on the pavement. Exhaling, Jinx pushed herself back to her feet, ignoring the heated flesh of her singed back. "See-more!"

See-more halted a few yards from the door, cranking the dial of his helmet. She charged back into the deadly space, throwing both hands up, her pink eyes sending a glow across her pale skin. They both attacked at the same time.

"What happened to you?" Jinx hissed, blinking the blood out of her eyes. "You were _never_ so-"

She dodged his gloved fist. He moved away from her glowing fingertips.

"I'm going to wipe you off the face of this earth. I'm going to scourge you from every memory." he raved, blasting laser after laser blast from his helmet. There was no rationality, just madness. He was hitting anything and everything, including the support columns of steel that kept the roof above them instead of around their knees. Jinx barely managed to shield herself from the barrage.

"You made your own choices."

See-more scoffed, stopping his melee. He stood oddly still for a long moment, and Jinx didn't know why but she felt as if somebody was walking over her grave. Everything went oddly cold.

He removed his own helmet and Jinx's eyes widened in shock. He had never handsome but had been decent enough looking when they were kids. She remembered his kind eyes from their days at the academy. He snuck her chocolate pudding from storage but allowed her to hit him when 'taking it from him' so she kept her reputation ruthless and visceral in front of the others. It had been the reason she allowed him to hang around.

His face was a scarred, sunken mess both pitted and ugly. All she could see was pale eyes, they were milked and she knew he couldn't see, not the way she could. Someone had cut off his eyelids. All his hair had been burned away at the temples, and now it was skinned tight to his skull which clearly had sunken dents as if someone tried to stomp it flat. It was grotesque, like some kind of monster, the bulging sightless eyes following her movements a yellowy pus where they had once been white. He slipped the helmet back over his face, the technology once again activating his improved sight.

"See-more." Jinx voice was soft, suddenly all the aches of her wounds and scratches stinging and alive. She was so tired, the ache of her muscles from their sparring, the drain of her core from the overuse of her magic. All she could feel was pity and loss, heavy like a weight.

"You were right about the Brotherhood." he said, wiping the white foam from the corner of his mouth. "Madam Rouge ordered a hit on you a few years after you left the criminal syndicate. You were causing trouble for some of the Rogue Gallery in Keystone City, they were supplying biochemical components to the Brotherhood. You and that _Flash, _you ruined the trade circle. Not to mention the history in Paris."

"...what are you saying."

"I stopped three of their assassins before they found out all those 'accidents' were because of me. They gave me a choice to do you in myself or I'd find myself in pieces in a trunk. I went to Keystone City, found a meta who had your body type. You were in the news back then, a golden little hero with partnership problems. Every headline was you and that Flash and the breaking of your little party."

Jinx gaped, her mind instantly returning to that time. She had found out she was pregnant and together Wally and her had decided it was time for her to retire. It was too dangerous. She would vanish out of the public eye and assume her civil identity as Linda Park.

Superheroes, even in their twenties couldn't just disappear however. They had twisted the media for months in their favor. The media caught their 'arguments' and the 'fights' and finally the smack down right in the middle of Keystone City Plaza. She had screamed she couldn't take it anymore, his flirting, his lack of focus and told him with cameras watching she was leaving and he'd never see her again. The whole superhero stick had been a mistake. She had ripped the emblem off her costume and threw it in his face. To the world, codename Jinx had quit and slipped into the world as a retired and hidden ex-superhero.

In reality, she slipped on the face of Linda Park, using her magic and the powers of her probability to hide her identity. SHe could be standing in the middle of a crowd in the Flash museum, standing next to photos of her younger days and still the masses wouldn't recognize her. People had the bad luck of mistaking faces all the time. Even the ones with strange coloring.

"Gizmo owed me a favor form the old days, he implanted a holo chip directly into the women's body. I heard rumors you were leaving that speed bastard, it was every chance I needed. As soon as you disappeared I killed the girl and gave the body to the Brotherhood. They burned her corpse, and since no one saw you again they believed me. My makeover was for the first three assassins and Gizmo's corpse. I had to cover my bases Jinx, and yours."

"...you..."

_'He had killed Gizmo?'_

"I saved you. I thought you left Keystone. You were never in the papers again, he never had another partner. It was the only reason I could live with this. Except you were married the entire time. It was only because of me you got to live but the entire time you were laughing at me! I gave up everything for you, _everything_."

"How could I have known? _How_?" she cried back. "I never wanted you to get hurt. I wanted you to get out. I wanted you to come with me, remember? You didn't..."

"DON'T BLAME ME! All this was you, and now, I'm claiming your body. You owe me. _Everything."_

* * *

Irey blinked open her eyes, she felt aches everywhere and she didn't recognize where she was. The ground was hard and her shoulder was hurting. The little girl wanted to go home.

"See-more! Stop. Don't make me do this."

Irey's warily blue eyes turned to her mother's voice, cutting through the gloom of the night like some kind of beacon. She'd heard that voice almost everyday she could remember, but she never heard it with that tone before. "Mom?"

Ahead of her, through the open segment of the warehouse she remembered sneaking into earlier was her mom. Except she looked different, her jeans replaced with some kind of tight leotard with long sleeves, her long hair loose over her shoulders. There was an aura of pink light shining from out from her hands. She could see her naked shoulders, she was bleeding. Irey felt a shiver of cold guilt and fear.

This was all her fault.

"_Kill me!_" The man who'd hurt her was there too. He was now covered in wounds, his costume torn. His screaming hurt Irey's ears, he sounded like he was already dying. "You took everything from me, _just end it!_"

"You shouldn't have hurt my daughter."

"You shouldn't have a daughter! You shouldn't be with _him_. You should been the person you were born to be!"

Three short lasers, Irey watched mesmerized but unable to find the strength to move. Her mom moved like liquid water, twisting into the air like some kind of gymnastic queen and avoided to blows, slamming her hand to the concrete floor.

It exploded in shards, shocking Irey, who'd never seen her mother do much more then crack the odd tea-mug. There was a tidal wave of awe at the explosion of power, the pink light and energy sweeping across the entire warehouse.

"It's about choice! It's always been choice. Once you had one too, but you pissed it away! I'm over your shit, and I'll never let you hurt my family! That's my life!"

Everything inside the warehouse exploded, glowing with pink light, and Irey couldn't help her scream. Through the crumbling rubble, there was only a micro-moment seeing the slim form of her mom throwing herself on the dark skinned man, grabbing him by the exposed skin of his chin. Then it was only beams, concrete and a smoking crater where the building had stood moments before.

Irey felt her heart breaking, mirroring the shattered warehouse and burning beams.

"Mom."


End file.
